Pretty quick and simple idea I would like to throw out there. Currently Woc 1/3 Power Armors offer so great bonuses that people don't really run non-PA Underwear/suit anymore. I was thinking that to help fight the abundance of Power armor users running around we could introduce a Level WOC 2 Underwear/suit that would give similar stats as the PA (perhaps different resistances) to help match the PA counterpart.

This is really an attempt to get back the little character customisation that we have in-game and get out of this "Ceres clone wars" we have got going on. The downside to this solution is that people would have to level-up to WOC 2 to have a PvP ready character without a Power Armor.

This will be a rather quick thread to discuss the levelling meta and more specifically Area of Effect (AoE) and Single target levelling methods in the game and why I think it's important to take another direction when it comes to the levelling experience in Neocron, especially for new comers. A few of the things I'll talk about, I'm not even sure how it truly works, feel free to correct me!

Here is a simple table of how it's done for now if you want to be effective:

PE

AoE Drones

Spy

AoE Drones

GenTank

AoE Heavy

Monk

AoE APU

Not fully aware of how the rare mini rocket pistol performs for levelling

The way I understand it is that XP gain is streamlined across the game. And my guess is that it has to do with

Tech level (TL) of your weapon

Mob level

Damage/sec or amount of mobs damaged

I don't know if this would even be technically possible in the game but I thought single target damage would be about 80 to 85% as effective as AoE for levelling stats (AoE needs to remain #1 in XP speed - a painful but faster way to max out your character). I do realise a lot of issues are centered around game performance or PvP, but one of Neocron's great strength is its replayability and class/profession choices, thus I feel it is important that a) New comers don't feel like their choice are just plain wrong in view of capping a character and b) Veterans get a new fun way to level up a character.

PPU XP could also be tuned to be better - Perhaps give more XP for amount of HP healed (I think this system is in the game right now but really low).

This would push not only weapon variety in PvE but also exploring around in various zones instead of the "hey, if you ain't doing AoE on 10+ mobs in Regant or Ceres labs, then you are doing it wrong".
]]>BrainportNerihttps://forum.neocron-game.com/showthread.php?157662-PvE-AoE-vs-Single-target-levelingPvE: CityCom missions scalinghttps://forum.neocron-game.com/showthread.php?157657-PvE-CityCom-missions-scaling&goto=newpost
Mon, 25 May 2020 19:46:47 GMTHello everyone!

CityCom Missions in Neocron

Following a discussion on discord - I'm here to discuss citycom missions and their scaling. Although the title of thread states "PvE", this also concerns PvP players. The idea to properly scale missions (and possibly rework XP values) comes after I found out about the one we all love for her nice reward and incredibly sexy baldness:

There is also Morty, but hey guess what Morty: WE CAN NEVER FIND YOUR GODDAMN MUTANT SOLDIERS!! Our little friends Sam and MoMo' here are naughty, they offer you XP rewards that far surpass Citycom missions rewards.

Samantha: 2300 xp

Morty: 6000 xp

To compare values here, Samantha gives 2300 xp whilst Very easy missions will reward you around 200 (both offering 'kill 5 sewer rats' missions). Samantha and Morty are great band-aids, however I was thinking Citycom could get a rework through values tweaking and to be on par with the thought behind those two NPCs.

This is really a rough figure of how the scaling would work - there are a lot of variable here (not all missions reward the same thing on an identical difficulty setting). This would be a first proposition for "Kill xx" missions only.

Level requirements would be implemented to prevent abuse of very hard mission (i.e tagging a mob with low level characters to finish them with capped characters). The scaling I've applied was to reward doing a higher level mission instead of x2 times the current level.

I've always felt missions were giving too little XP since NC1. Taking consideration of this, we could also imagine higher values but with more monsters to kill at higher level missions. The flaw I can see with this system is being able to cap low skills (DEX for monks or PSI for Spies/PE) really really quickly as all skill categories do not have the same scaling until capped.

Let me know what you think!

N.
]]>BrainportNerihttps://forum.neocron-game.com/showthread.php?157657-PvE-CityCom-missions-scalingRemoving the LE maluses - making NC a little friendlier to returning playershttps://forum.neocron-game.com/showthread.php?157628-Removing-the-LE-maluses-making-NC-a-little-friendlier-to-returning-players&goto=newpost
Mon, 09 Mar 2020 00:07:46 GMTA returning player came on the NC Discord earlier, asked a question about turning off an animation and then when he noticed that there was an xp/cash malus on the LE, said nevermind and that he wasn't going to bother continuing playing. I have no doubt there have been many more like him who haven't been vocal about it, and I know both the LE malus and removal of city safezones have stopped me doing much more than logging on to look at chat and then nope out of there.

Had a discussion with Xanthos and others, and here are my thoughts:

What's the gameplay purpose of the LE?

To allow players to experience the game without being forced to engage in PVP.

Why do we want this to be an option?

Levels/Damage scale to such an extent that lower/mid level characters even in groups don't have a hope against capped characters

A player being killed can set them back a significant amount of time
A player who's belt/backpack are being camped is set back even further in terms of time (or overall loss)

Some players simply don't want to PVP but do want to experience the world, levelling up, tradeskilling and acquiring new items

What are the benefits to the LE?

No risk from player combat or having belts hacked

What are the drawbacks to the LE?

Not able to join clansNot able to PVPLose one brain implant slotReduced XP gain over **/30Reduced cash gain over 30/**

How has the role of the LE changed since NC1?

LE's were very rare on the two servers I played on in NC1, especially at higher levels. Prime levelling spots were generally self-policing to some extent – a ganker at the MB bunker would draw out players to hunt him down, same anywhere in the city where a low level character simply needed to say on chat that they were low level pk'ed. Camping belts/backpacks was basically unheard of, and being found hacking dropped belts of noobs or strangers would see people blacklisted. There was a risk in ganking noobs/levellers (even in places like CRP or the chaos caves) and potentially severe consequences. None such appear to exist now.

How have players and expectations changed since NC1?

Returning players are at least 17-18 years older. They have full time jobs, many have kids and relationships. The vast majority of people simply do not have the time or patience for an incredibly raw HARDCORE PVP levelling experience. We've had almost 2 decades of games becoming more accessable and more conducive to short bursts of playtime. That doesn't mean the core mechanics of NC need to change but then again, for almost the entirety of NC1 and during it's heyday, it had LE's that had no reduced xp/cash malus.

Just a general point. It's better to have 50 people online than 25, even if 25 of those 50 have LEs. They can be convinced to get rid of the LEs at higher levels to join clans. To PVP. To make hunting that bit easier with an extra implant. Players who either a) never return when they see the LE malus or b) quit after getting ganked can't be convinced of anything - even if it changes in the future, they're never coming back.

In aid of that, you could add gentler drawbacks to the LE. Things like not allowing them to enter high level MC5 or to engage in WoC. But having xp/cash maluses on LEs sends a negative message to people whose time is precious or players who simply don't want to PVP.

I was a hardcore op-warrer in NC1, I rarely PVEd and I didn't tradeskill beyond a mid level barterer. I was in a minority, the vast majority of other players wanted to level, hunt, tradeskill and simply take part in the community with any sort of PVP coming a distant second.

To pretend that NC1 was primarily a PVP game is ahistorical and untrue, it welcomed all sorts of players and catered to them to some extent. Can the same be said about the current version of NC?
]]>BrainportCelthttps://forum.neocron-game.com/showthread.php?157628-Removing-the-LE-maluses-making-NC-a-little-friendlier-to-returning-playersOld zoneshttps://forum.neocron-game.com/showthread.php?157604-Old-zones&goto=newpost
Sun, 03 Nov 2019 12:27:32 GMTSo.. this might not be very popular. Obviously the open world has some very large zones. When we get into this giant mega city that is Neocron.. it seems very compact, and not really well laid out. At nearly 20 years down the road, is it possible to make changes to the city, or would that break stuff in ways that nightmares couldn't describe?

When I think of things like the Plaza, I guess I have always pictured it bigger, brighter, and flashier. Especially from the vendors. Wider spaces, and stuff. More direct routes. Just a thought
]]>Brainportnecroconhttps://forum.neocron-game.com/showthread.php?157604-Old-zonesThe Epic Failure of Neocron via NSThttps://forum.neocron-game.com/showthread.php?157597-The-Epic-Failure-of-Neocron-via-NST&goto=newpost
Sat, 14 Sep 2019 23:44:06 GMTIf you're reading this it means you probably love NC. I've been playing on and off for the better part of a decade or more and every time I check to see whats going on in NC world I am utterly disappointed.

I am going to dish out an incredible amount of criticism towards NST with the hopes that perhaps they'll actually listen.

Here are some things that I would confidently say at least 80% of long time players would agree with. Hands down.

1. The games major bugs need to be fixed and those bugs are the reason MOST long time players no longer play or play sparingly. They include:
-Constant crashing
-Difficulty simply installing the game
-God Awful launcher
-So buggy that PvP is almost impossible
-Zone crashing/lag
-General game glitching/object issues

If Neocron were a paid game, with a real manager or owner, they would be prioritizing fixing these issues and not doing things like balancing and new content. I find it hard to believe that with 1)Better personnel 2)Better hardware 3)More time the vast majority of the major bugs couldn't be fixed. Period. I personally would be happy to contribute to a hardware fund to get new equipment as Im sure many other players would but really we'd like to see the game handed over to people who care and are qualified. On every level from player interaction to server maintenance and game management NST don't just fail but epicly.

2. Balancing
Honestly was the reason I haven't started playing again. Without getting into the details of how incredibly awful the last round of balancing was, it honestly has ruined the game. NST have no understanding of their own game mechanics and they blame any balancing complaints on the fact that players don' engage on PTS. (Most players cant get on PTS to begin with). Rhino's and VHC damage in general have been nerfed down to joke levels. A second love last time I checked shelled out more DPS than a rhino or dex glider. Thats stupid AF.

3. NST are the worst.
On every level of support and game management they are the epitome of awful. They are immature, lazy, uncaring, in-equipped, lacking necessary skills, lacking proper time to actually run the game server to the detriment of the players. NST is "clichey", have ridiculously high standards, and deflect almost ALL game issues elsewhere.

NST have a plethora of rebuttals in their arsenal.
1. They have real lives and little time to work on NC.
2. They don't get paid.
3. They can't get help/volunteers.
4. "It's the communities fault"
5. No one goes on test server

I personally would not be speaking out if these problems were inevitable or unable to be rectified but the fact of the matter is this simple statement: the poor state of Neocron is directly and nearly entirely the cause of NST. Period, hands down, cut the check and take it to the bank

So I ask NST, when will the excuses end? When will you take REAL steps to make this game "something" again? When will you admit that you are the problem?

To the players I ask, will you stand up and echo your frustrations, too, until change is made?

Their is no plausible reason that NST cannot find replacements for themselves to non-grumpy, experienced, motivated people. Clearly you hate the players and the game and your jobs so just give it up already! For the love of N.C. !
]]>BrainportMozencrathhttps://forum.neocron-game.com/showthread.php?157597-The-Epic-Failure-of-Neocron-via-NST